Gold Coast to Home (Last Entry)

After 4 days on the Sunshine Coast we headed to the Gold Coast for another 4 nights. This was a good re-introduction to traffic, red lights and roundabouts before we headed for Sydney.

Our last night was a great free camp near Taree in a Coopernook State Forest. We enjoyed a fire, too many drinks and a nice grassy camp spot.

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As we are on our last day, I think it’s worthwhile to wrap up this Blog with some statistics. As a comparison I will also list the stats from our last trip around Australia in 2005. We arrived home on Monday 24^th September.

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Some statistics on our trip. I have compared them with our trip in 2005, which we did with a Ford Falcon towing a 22' pop-top Jayco.

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Distance travelled 2012 = 25,678kms (2005 = 19,978kms). Van kms 2012 = 18,852kms (2005 = unknown).

Driving split was 25% by Jayne, 75% by me, & Jayne still is a real trooper to tow the van.

Maximum distance we drove on any one day 2012 = 509kms (2005 = 635 kms).

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We have been away for 2012 = 219 days (2005 = 109 days), less the time in Sydney from Perth (6 days) & Broome (14 days) = 199 days (2005 = 88 days).

Maximum time we have spent in any one location is Broome, 30 days, but not consecutively (2005 = 6 days Broome and Darwin).

We were in NSW for 5 nights, South Australia for 15 nights, Queensland for 17 nights, Northern Territory for 35 nights and Western Australia for 127 nights. We obviously liked WA the best! The Western Australia coastline is just fantastic, and inland WA has lots to offer.

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We have used 4,441 litres of diesel (2005 = 3,496 litres of petrol). That's an average of 17.30 litres/100kms or 16.33 miles per gallon (2005 = 17.10 litres/100 kms or 16.52 miles per gallon). That’s so close it’s not funny, seeing our van weight in 2005 was max 2,400kgs and now its 3,500kms, plus this time we had a boat and 10HP outboard motor and 2 bikes on the car!

Maximum petrol cost we paid was $2.09/litre, (2005 = $1.529/litre).

Lowest petrol price we paid was $1.459/litre (2005 = $0.945/litre).

Average petrol cost was $1.69/litre (2005 = $1.18/litre).

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Average speed while we were towing our van = 85kms/hour (2005 = 100kms/hour).

Number of problems we have had with the car = 1 (2005 = 2). We broke the lower control arm near Broome. Cost zero, as the car is under warranty.

Number of car flat tyres = 0, same as in 2005.

Number of caravan flat tyres = 0 same as in 2005.

Number of tyres we replaced = 0 same as in 2005.

This is certainly good seeing we have 8 tyres.

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Number of things we hit with our car = 0. Now that's very unusual for us when we are on holidays!

Damage to our car = 2, 1 broken windscreen and 1 small dint - we don’t know where this occurred (2005 = 0).

Number of things we hit with our van = 0 (2005 = 1).

Damage to our van = 0 (2005 = 1).

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Max time Jayne and I were apart in these 199 days = 4 hours when Jayne went shopping in Geraldton. (2005 = 20 minutes).

Number of disagreements between Jayne & I, of any magnitude = 0 (2005 = 1).

Number of times Jayne was wrong = 22.

Number of times she admits she was wrong = 0.

Number of times I was wrong = 1.

Number of times I admit I was wrong = 1.

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Number of nights we free camped (without any payment) = 23 (2005 = 5).

Number of nights we camped in National Parks (without power/water) = 32.

Number of nights we camped without power/water (but we had to pay a small amount) = 28.

Total nights without power/water/toilet/shower (using all these in the Kedron) = 83.

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Maximum fee we paid for camping = $49/night Darwin (2005 = $42/night).

Minimum fee we paid for camping = $5.70/night Ningaloo (2005 = $2/night).

Average fee we paid for camping = $25/night (2005 =$18/night).

Best camping spot = too many to list, Ningaloo Station, Cape Range National Park, Cape Arid, Cape Leveque, Barn Hill Station near Broome.

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Hottest daytime temperature = 47C (2005 = 42C).

Coldest daytime temperature = 3.5⁰C (2005 = 0C).

Number of rainy days of the 199 days = 1 (2005 = 7).

Number of totally sunny days of the 199 = 198 (2005 = 80).

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Number of nights where we were disturbed sleeping due to wind = 0 (2005 = 1)

Item which we used the most (except for the car & van of course) = Webber Baby Q BBQ

Best items we bought while we were travelling inflatable boat pump and chain saw, we didn’t use either! And a Tyre Pressure Monitoring System for all the tyres including the van. (2005 = a new snazzy BBQ).

This is our actual route, Google Maps wouldn't let me put in enough places, so I've had to split it into 2 maps. Total distance according to Google maps = 17,444kms. The van did 18,852kms so it's fairly accurate.

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Thanks for reading our Travel Blog. We hope you enjoyed it.

Alan & Jayne